International Incident Party: Chocolate-Matcha Grissini With Anglesey Sea Salt

For a period when I was a teenager, we lived in a house right in front of the beach, with a view looking out towards the South China Sea. Even on the days when we didn't step onto the sandy shore, the saltiness of the sea permeated everywhere. We felt it and tasted it in the air we breathed, in the stickiness of our skin/hair/clothes, whenever we licked our lips. We also saw the destruction it caused, the most memorable of which was the premature aging of my bicycle, my then precious form of transport for explorations around the neighborhood. The salty air had quietly chewed away at the metal, leaving behind a rather sad, rusty frame.

Since then, I've had a 'frenemy' (love-hate) type of relationship with salt. My salt tolerance level is pretty low and I'm often wary of using too much salt in my cooking. On the other hand, very little of it will leave my tastebuds puzzled and yearning. For this month's International Incident Party (theme: Salt), I decided it's time I pay my respects to this most basic of flavorings. 

Lately, out of curiosity more than anything else, I seemed to have acquired several different salts to add to my pantry: pink, coarse Himalayan salt (origin: Pakistan), translucent white Anglesey Sea Salt (origin: Wales, UK) and flaky, pink Murray River Salt (origin: Australia). Now, which one to use for this party?

I'm more than a little obsessed by these pretty diamond shapes! Pity they're only salt crystals...

I decided to go with the Anglesey Sea Salt because my recipe is Matcha Grissini coated in dark chocolate, and the white, coarse sea salt would show up well sprinkled against the chocolatey backdrop. Anyone who has ever baked these crisp, Italian breadsticks will tell you they're a breeze to make, but the oriental matcha and decadent chocolate coat probably lends the illusion that it takes many moons to produce (instead of the 2 hours it actually took me). I've also added extra salt and black pepper to the grissini because these are the grown-up version, to tease our palates with their sweetness, saltiness, spiciness and slight bitterness due to the green tea. Kids will equally love to munch on these chocolate breadsticks, just leave out the matcha, black pepper and sea salt.

Eat them as a snack, dip them in hot chocolate or coffee, then sit back and watch the world go by. 

Usual thanks to Penny of Jeroxie - Addictive and Consuming Blog for hosting this great party!

Chocolate-Matcha Grissini With Anglesey Sea Salt

Makes about 25 pieces

Ingredients:
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tblsp salt
1 ½ cup bread flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
2 tblsp matcha powder
2 tbsp olive oil
¾ to 1 cup warm milk
1 tsp crushed black pepper
300g dark chocolate, melted
Anglesey Sea Salt, for sprinkling

Method:

1. Put the flours, matcha, yeast, sugar, black pepper, salt, olive oil and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the warm milk slowly, you may need only slightly less than a cup. With a dough attachment, mix until the mixture becomes a soft and elastic dough. The dough can then be kneaded by hand, it should be smooth and slightly moist, but not sticky.

2. Place dough in a well-oiled bowl. Cover bowl with a damp cloth and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for about an hour.

3. Divide the dough into two. Take one piece and roll out into a thin rectangle (about 1/4 of an inch high). Using a pizza cutter cut the dough lengthwise into strips which are approximately 1/3-inch and 10-inch long. Do the same with the remaining piece of dough.

4. Twist each strip from both ends and place the strips on a greased or lined baking tray. Allow them to slightly puff up (about 10 to 15 minutes). Bake the grissini at 210C for about 15 minutes. Cool on a rack before coating with chocolate.

5. For the chocolate glaze: Chop the chocolate into 1/2 inch chunks and melt in a double boiler or in the microwave. Pour the melted chocolate onto a flat platter and proceed to dip and roll the grissini in it. Work quickly as the chocolate will harden halfway through this coating process. If it does, just warm it on medium heat in the microwave.

6. Sprinkle the sea salt on the chocolate-covered part of the grissini while it is still moist. Place grissini to dry on waxed baking paper. Serve immediately or else, store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 3 days.

Battle Strategy: Cucumber-Mascarpone, Lemongrass Chicken and Potato-Capsicum Tower with Black Pepper-Lime Dressing

Vote for ME!

As soon as I found out last week that I was to compete in the next Foodie Fights battle, I went searching for my dusty Battle Cap, already long ago discarded to a distant corner of my memory. Preparing to go into battle, I was reminded of the heart of the message contained in Sun Tzu’s Art of War – “To thine own self be true”. Hell, I even own a ring bought from The Barber’s Daughter that depicts this phrase, so convinced was I that Shakespeare had penned this line just for me! Whatever. I shall be true to myself and push the envelope for this battle.

After having a rather restless night, I started strategizing about what dish I was going to push forward to the frontline. The two ingredients that are a must: Cucumber and Black Pepper. Cool and hot. The two extremes, so far so good.

Whipped out my notebook and began brainstorming up something I’ve never made before (and hopefully, have never been made by anybody else, although I would never really know. Even Google has its limitations!). This process is called “Learning how to make a meal without looking at a cookbook". LOL. 

After working the chemistry out in my head, I’d decided on a Smörgåsbord of flavors packaged into a deliciously comforting appetizer called (brace yourself!) : Cucumber-Mascarpone, Lemongrass Chicken and Potato-Capsicum Tower with Black Pepper-Lime Dressing. A mouthful certainly, but I really wanted to showcase the main ingredients in it!

  The star players.

Cucumber-Mascarpone, Lemongrass Chicken and Potato-Capsicum Tower with Black Pepper-Lime Dressing
Makes: 16 “Towers”

Ingredients:
Cucumber-Mascarpone Layer
1 cucumber
1 teaspoon salt
125g Mascarpone cheese
1 egg-white

Lemongrass-Chicken Layer
3 pieces boneless chicken breasts, sliced
2 sticks lemongrass, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 shallots, sliced
1 egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

Potato-Capsicum Layer
1 red pepper
4 medium potatoes
100g butter

Black Pepper-Lime Dressing
4 limes
2 tablespoons peppercorns, cracked
5 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt

Method:

This is a relatively easy and tasty appetizer to make and truthfully, it really helps if you’re organized and seasoned at the biz of multitasking. I say this not to put you off but the preparation process for the three layers are staggered and everything only comes together at the end for the baking part. This is the order of the baking process: Lemongrass chicken first, Potato layer second, then all three layers together. Hope you’re still with me! *grins*

First things first - preheat the oven to 200°C, then prepare the layers as follows:

Lemongrass-Chicken Layer

1. Place the chicken meat, carrots, lemongrass, garlic, shallots, egg and olive oil in a food processor and mix until it becomes a paste. Season with salt and pepper and process further. (Note: For the lemongrass, slice thinly towards the root end and discard the green leafy end).

2. Press a tablespoonful of the mixture into the bottom of a muffin cup and push down lightly to flatten. Cook the chicken patties in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

3. Turn the patties out of the muffin tray, set aside and go cook the potato layer.

Lemongrass-Chicken patties, good enough to eat on their own. That lemongrass flavor is so seductive, the chicken has no choice but to feel (and taste) sexy around it!

Capsicum-Potato Layer

1. Roast the capsicum under a hot grill/broiler until the skin chars and splits. Let it cool slightly, then peel off skin and dice the capsicum.

2. Peel the potatoes, cut into chunks and boil until cooked. Drain the water and place the potatoes in a bowl.

3. Add the butter and diced capsicum to the potatoes and blend everything together with a potato-masher. There will still be chunky bits of capsicum in there, and that’s ok, it’s part of the masterplan.*winks*
4. Press a tablespoonful of the potato-capsicum layer into the bottom of a muffin cup and bake for 10 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven, place a chicken patty on top of the potato layer and set aside while you prepare the last stage which is the cucumber layer.

The act of mashing was good, cheap therapy. I thought of all the people who'd ever been rude to me and oh, how wonderful it would be to just squish them like so!

Cucumber-Mascarpone Layer
1. Peel the cucumber and slice into thin strips along its length, discard seedy core. My favourite way to produce these thin strips is to use a potato peeler. Add salt to the cucumber and leave in a bowl for 15 minutes to draw the moisture out. Squeeze cucumber, drain the water and set aside. (Do this part while the potatoes are boiling and the chicken patties are in the oven – Multitasking, see?).
2. Just before baking, beat the Mascarpone lightly to soften it. In another bowl, whisk the egg-white into stiff peaks and fold gently into the Mascarpone.
3. Take the muffin tray with the potato and chicken patty layer already in it and place a few strips of cucumber on top of the patty. Spoon the Mascarpone mixture on top of the cucumber julienne and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and puffy. Leave in the tray to cool for 10 minutes before turning out carefully. Serve with black pepper-lime dressing to bring out the different flavours.

Black Pepper-Lime Dressing

1. Squeeze lime juice into a small bowl. Add olive oil and salt.

2. Crack black peppercorns in a grinder or using a pestle and mortar. Add this to the lime dressing and drizzle over the cooked "tower" just before serving.

Cracked black peppercorns in a tangy lime-olive oil dressing. Sizzle, Crackle and Zinggggg!

Oh, you're still here? Thought I'd lost you at the first layer! Anyway, you can serve and enjoy the dish like this but if you're a masochist like me, then you'll go on and make the phyllo "wings" to embrace this dish. It's easy, just take a sheet of phyllo pastry and rub olive oil on both sides. Cut into 1-inch wide strips and drape into the muffin cups (below). Bake at 200°C for about a minute, keep an eye as it burns fast!

Carefully insert a tower in between the wing, garnish with some more cucumber strips and finally drizzle some dressing on top.

PS. Hope you enjoyed the post, and apologies if it was starting to read like an epic. I wanted you to feel the pain. LOL! Don't forget to go to Foodie Fights and vote for me... Heart ya!